Futures inch higher
U.S. stock futures were pointing to strong gains for Wall Street on Tuesday as traders continued to welcome more good news for coronavirus vaccine development.
By 6:10 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were indicated 342 points, or 1.15% to 29,971. The S&P 500 futures gained 40.68 points, or 1.12% to 3,663.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 115.25 points, or 0.94% to 12,392.25.
On Monday, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) filed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for authorization of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after a new analysis showed it was highly effective in preventing the virus, with no serious safety concerns.
Moderna said it was on track to have about 20 million doses of the vaccine ready to ship in the U.S. by the end of this year, enough to inoculate 10 million people.
The filing sets Moderna’s vaccine up to be the second shot likely to get emergency use authorization in 2020 after a vaccine developed by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), which had a 95% efficacy rate.
Powell to appear before Congress
Today, traders are awaiting U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to make his appearance before Congress at 10 a.m. ET.
Powell will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on the Cares Act and likely reiterate the need for lawmakers to provide more help to support the economy.
Market participants have been waiting months for another coronavirus relief package. However, that is only likely to happen if the U.S. experiences a major downturn in the jobs market.
In prepared remarks, Powell will tell lawmakers that “recent news on the vaccine front is very positive for the medium term.”
The central bank boss goes on to say that for now, “significant challenges and uncertainties remain, including timing, production and distribution, and efficacy across different groups.”
Zoom tumbles despite upbeat earnings and guidance
On the earnings, shares in Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM) are falling even after the company reported upbeat third-quarter financial results and provided a solid guidance for the current quarter.
Zoom posted adjusted earnings of $0.99 per share, beating analyst expectations of $0.76 per share. Revenue came in at $777.20 million, well ahead of analyst consensus estimate of $693.95 million.
For the current quarter, the company hopes to report adjusted earnings of between $0.77 to $0.79 cents per share on revenue of between $806 to $811 million. Analysts expect Zoom to post adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share on revenue of $730.11 million.
As of writing, Zoom stock was down $30.36, or 6.35% to $448.00 a share in pre-market trading Monday.
